Sermon Central
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Take Another Peace Of My Pure Heart (Pt. 1) Series
Contributed by Mike Fogerson on Apr 20, 2016 (message contributor)
Summary: There are basically two kinds of religion: the first kind is where you try and earn your way to heaven, the other is knowing that, “I can’t do it. God did in Christ.”
The Beatitude Summer Sermon Series
Take another PEACE of My Pure Heart (Pt. 1)
Matt. 5.8
8/2/15 CFBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
A Matthew 5:3-8 (NASB) 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
1 A kingdom person fulfills all of these attitudes.
a There isn’t and picking, choosing.
aa (1) poor in spirit (v.3)
bb (2) mourn (v.4
cc (3) gentle (v.5)
dd (4) hunger & thirst for righteousness (v.6)
ee (5) merciful (v.7)
ff (6) pure in heart (v.8)
gg (7) peacemakers (v.9) (next week’s message)
b Once you get v. 3 (poor in spirit), the rest come pouring out by a beautiful work of the Holy Spirit.
2 These first six beatitudes are in a pattern, each flows out of the last one mentioned.
a Being merciful flows out of hunger/thirsting, which flows out of gentleness, which flows out of mourning, which flows out of being poor in spirit.
b You begin with a beggars spirit, and out comes mourning over sin. . .
aa You see your self as the chief sinner you become humble/meek before God
bb At that point we cry out to God for righteousness.
cc God acts and you find His mercy & a pure heart.
2 There is an intricate pattern to the beatitudes.
a 1 & 5: (Poor in Spirit & Merciful): (Poor in spirit (v.3) and fits with being merciful to others (v.7). (You know your nothing so you can reach out in mercy to others.
b 2 & 6: (Mourning & pure in heart) those who grieve over the penalty/power sin are going to seek a heart that is pure, free from sin.
c 3 & 7 (gentle and peacemakers) If we realize that we are dead in Christ, no need to defend our reputation, we will be peacemakers)
aa We will look in-depth at what being a peacemaker next week.
bb Before we become peacemakers we others, we must first come to peace with God through a pure heart.
B “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” v.9
1 Kierkegaard: “Purity of heart is to will one thing.”
a Heart in Scripture usually has to do with your personality, your thinking process, cognition, and not your emotions (Not, “I love you with my whole heart.”)
aa The emotions in Scripture are usually symbolized by your stomach, midsection. When the Jew expressed his feelings is was in terms of what his stomach felt like. (It makes my stomach turn or I’ve got butterflies in my stomach.)
bb The heart was more often linked to the mind, thinking.
cc It means the inner man with many functions, the “master control” of your life.
b Pure in the language of the bible means to be cleansed from filth, iniquity, free from sin.
aa It means authentic, simple, wholly itself & true.
bb Pure H2o is all water-no chlorine/fluoride; pure gold is unalloyed.
cc What Jesus was really saying was, “I desire to bless the person who has a heart that is unmixed in its devotion and motivation. Pure motives from a pure heart.”
2 Jesus’ listeners had given up trying to keep the full law of God, and they thought if I could just keep then God would be pleased.
a This explains the exchange Jesus had with a lawyer in Matt. 22.
aa Matthew 22:36-38 (NASB) 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment.
bb The Pharisees and the people just gave up on trying to do EVERYTHING God wanted them to do.
b The Pharisees developed a highly ridged set of rules for people to follow in order to please God.
aa That’s exactly what the people needed, NOT.
bb But the thought was if we followed man made rules that seem religious, right, holy. . . at least we’ll have a clean conscious. We’re trying, right?
cc Jesus didn’t come so we’d have a clean conscious, He came to give us pure hearts.
dd But, this brings up a very interesting question: How can enter God’s kingdom when I can’t keep God’s law?
3 This beatitude more than any other gives us the answer, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they (they alone) shall see God.”
